title: Considerations and lessons learned from designing a motivational interviewing obesity intervention for young people attending dental practices: a study protocol paper.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  With the prevalence of child obesity increasing worldwide, and the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages identified as a major contributor to obesity in adolescents, there is a need for effective interventions aimed at dietary behaviour change in this group. Primary dental care settings are in an ideal position to influence adolescents' dietary behaviours, yet have been under-utilised for this purpose. Motivational Interviewing (MI) has shown promise in influencing other health behaviours. However, there is lack of published methodologies on which to base the design of such interventions, and limited evidence on its effectiveness in influencing dietary change. We undertook a study to test the feasibility of a MI intervention aimed at reducing soft drink consumption in adolescents attending dental surgeries. We present the study design for the development and evaluation of the intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten dental practices in north London were randomised into control or intervention. Adolescent participants in control settings received routine advice and intervention participants received a brief MI intervention. The intervention was designed using comprehensive stakeholder engagement and consisted of 3-4 short MI sessions and a maintenance phase delivered by trained researchers through the use of age-specific resources. Process evaluation was carried out using qualitative and quantitative methods to assess intervention feasibility in a primary dental care setting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By focussing on the development and evaluation of the intervention, this paper contributes to the limited available knowledge and identifies methodological considerations for undertaking a MI intervention for dietary change in adolescents in primary dental care settings.
authors.affiliation: UCL Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Jessie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Huda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yusuf
authors.forename: Antiopi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ntouva
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolliakou
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Crawley
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tsakos
authors.forename: Hynek
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pikhart
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Watt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D002253:Carbonated Beverages; D002648:Child; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003770:Dental Offices; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008297:Male; D062405:Motivational Interviewing / Q000379:methods*; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D050177:Overweight / Q000628:therapy; D018579:Patient Selection; D012107:Research Design
keywords: Adolescents; Motivational interviewing; Obesity; Primary dental care; Protocol; Soft drinks